


A Serious Mental Disease

by antigrav_vector



Series: Assorted Gift Ficlets [10]
Category: Captain America (MCU), Iron Man (MCU), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky and James are different personalities, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotions, I blame CAPRBB slack chat, James flirts a bit like a sledgehammer, M/M, POV Multiple, Past Bucky Barnes/Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Past James "Bucky" Barnes/the Winter Soldier, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Polyamory, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Relationship Negotiation, Tony Stark Has Issues, but his lovers will straighten him out, but they're learning to live together, don't question it too hard, idek, really weird love triangles, shifting pov, two of them in fact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:03:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Bucky catches on to Steve's insecurities about Tony and decides to do something about them.





	1. [Bucky POV]

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chiyume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiyume/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Chi!
> 
> Posted with thanks to my faithful beta reader [dapperanachronism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperanachronism).
> 
> Love is a serious mental disease. -- Plato

When he'd woken up again after their experimentation in the hot tub, he'd smiled lazily. Steve was curled against his back, warm and solid; James was sprawled on his back with Tony draped over his torso, and their entwined hands rested near Bucky's head. Reaching out to put his hand over theirs, Bucky took stock.

Nothing ached, and he didn't seem to have too many hickeys or love bites. That argued for Tony and Steve drying them off and tucking them in rather than continuing the fun.

And actually -- Wait.

Bucky frowned in thought. Had Steve and Tony ever spent any time in bed together that didn't involve him or James? He couldn't recall a single instance, and that felt off somehow. Wrong. Not because they didn't care about each other. It was easy to see that they did. But Tony enjoyed sex, and happily took advantage of any excuse offered to him to indulge, sometimes even when he had what he deemed higher priorities.

He'd happily engaged with Bucky, case in point being the 'science' they'd done in the hot tub mere hours ago. But had he ever spent any time with Steve? Sure they'd all indulged together, but Bucky was almost certain that Steve had never simply jumped Tony. And James tended to be possessive of Tony's time and body, but he'd never deny Steve or Tony something they wanted. If Steve or Tony -- or both -- wanted to make time together, he wouldn't stand in their way. Nor would Bucky.

This might represent an issue that needed to be actively dealt with. He'd have to talk to James, and possibly Tony too.

Once everyone was awake, anyway.

Stretching, Bucky peeled Steve's arm away from his waist and wormed his way out of the bed. He wanted a shower. Sure, someone had cleaned him off before they'd put him to bed, but he wanted to wash his hair properly. And think some more.

Steve muttered something unintelligible as he stood, and groped blindly around the bed until he found the entwined hands Bucky had just been contemplating the ramifications of so deeply. Apparently satisfied with that, Steve settled again.

Setting the thoughts aside for a while, Bucky stripped off the boxers someone -- probably Steve -- had put him in, and took his time cleaning up.

When he stepped back out of the warmth and steam of the shower, ignoring the shiver that went up his spine, he all but collided with James. "You lookin' for me, Jamie?" he asked, genuinely curious. 

"Yes," was the quiet reply.

"What'd'you need?" Bucky offered him his hand, instinctively reaching out to his other half without thinking about the action at all. James took it, and a jolt of the same strange emotional connection he'd felt when they'd been half-octopus ran up his arm to lodge at the base of his skull. And wow was that unexpected.

James relaxed, apparently having guessed that would happen. "This."

Bucky eyed James. The feeling of contentment coming from his counterpart was making him relax, too, some tension he hadn't realised he was feeling melting away.

"I don't know what caused this," James said quietly, "or what effect it will have on us, long term. But I suspect it has something to do with whatever separated us. Some part of us that remembers being a single person."

That was almost poetic. Bucky shrugged. "No idea, but that's as good a theory as any. I'll settle for it not hurting us."

James huffed, a measure of dry amusement in the sound. "That will take time to determine."

Bucky shrugged and reached for his towel with his other hand. "Probably," he conceded, drying himself off. "But for now it seems to be harmless enough. We can function without touching one another, and it doesn't negatively affect us when we do."

"Just because it hasn't yet, does not mean it never will," James disagreed, evidently in a bit of a pessimistic mood, but he didn't let go of Bucky's hand.

"I know," Bucky said on a sigh. "Let's just not worry about that right now, yeah? We have other problems to solve."

James gave him a questioning look but kept silent.

Bucky eyed the closed bathroom door, knowing just how well sound carried into the other room, and shook his head. Later. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

The statement got an amused huff out of James. "Definitely a problem," he teased. "If we don't feed you, you'll pass out, no doubt."

"You don't want that on your conscience, do you?" Bucky smirked, knowing his underlying motive had been heard and acknowledged.

"It would break Steve's heart," James told him, solemn. "I'd rather avoid that."

Laughing, Bucky took his hand back, wanting to dry his hair and tie it back. A wave of emptiness washed over him and he winced, shaking his head to clear it. "Whoa. Was that because we let go?"

"Confirmation needed. But if so, we'll have to be careful." James turned decisively for the door.

"No kidding." Bucky drew a steadying breath and followed. They'd probably have reacted the same way when Steve and Tony had separated them to tuck them in, had they been conscious for that.

When they re-emerged, Steve was lounging on the bed, awake and distinctly alone. "You two feeling better?" he asked.

"You could say that," Bucky agreed.

"Food first," James prodded at him. "Banter later."

Steve chuckled at them. "Alright. I could eat, myself."

"Where's Tony?" Bucky asked him. "He already run off to hide in his workshop?"

"No, Pepper hauled him out of bed for a meeting." Steve looked a little bit embarrassed. "If I didn't know for a fact that she's seen everything there is to see and more, where Tony's concerned, I'd have been embarrassed."

"She stormed right on in and didn't care a whit that neither of you was wearing a stitch, hmm?" Bucky guessed.

Steve's ears went red. "Uh."

"Thought so." Bucky grinned broadly. "Lucky you're taken, or she'd probably try to snatch you up."

James cleared his throat. "We'd have to get him back. Don't give her ideas."

It wasn't far to Tony's kitchen. He never used the space himself, but he had one, and it was as well appointed as the rest of his apartments. JARVIS, well used to the metabolisms of supersoldiers meantime, kept the fridge stocked for them. He watched as Steve grabbed for the first t-shirt and pair of slacks he found, and threw them on.

"I can speak for myself, you know. And I know what I want," Steve told them once he'd gotten the t-shirt over his head.

Bucky saw an opportunity. He caught James' eyes and held them for a moment, trying to silently convey that this was what he'd avoided saying outright, earlier. "And what's that, then? You want Tony?"

Steve didn't miss a beat. "Nah. All or nothing. If I can't have all three of you, I might as well have none of you," he replied easily.


	2. [James POV]

James nodded, the movement deliberate. "All or nothing, huh?" He considered Steve for a moment. "You ever tell Tony that?"

Steve hesitated. "Not out loud? I thought all of you knew that."

Bucky looked torn between vindication and a desire to hit his head on the wall. "Steve, you dense lump of--" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, that's what I thought. I knew I might have to cram you two in a closet together to get you to talk about that."

His counterpart had a point. Steve and Tony talked fine where it came to missions and technical things, but feelings? Neither of them was good at that and both avoided it as much as they could get away with. "That wouldn't work, Bucky," he pointed out. "They'd both just put their energy into breaking out."

Bucky sighed deeply then started pulling the ingredients for omelets out of the fridge. "Probably."

Steve looked a bit sheepish, but didn't contradict them. Instead, he pulled out a pan and a mixing bowl, then started cracking eggs into the bowl and whisking them up.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, then Steve broke it. "Even if I told him how I feel, he wouldn't believe me."

James considered that. Tony definitely had a habit of underestimating how much someone else valued him. He wasn't sure what underlay that tendency, but he didn't like it. "You'll have to keep telling him until he believes it. He didn't fully accept that I wasn't going to give him up until I repeated it a few times."

With a groan Steve accepted the truth of that. "For a man that projects so much confidence, he's a surprisingly big bundle of insecurities."

Bucky snorted. "Lotta people would say the same about you, you know."

"I'm getting better?" Steve said, a little hesitantly, and handed Bucky the bowl of frothy egg batter.

"You are," James agreed, "but we can work on that later. First you need to talk to Tony."

Jokingly, Steve asked him, "Can I take you with me?"

James gave him a startled look. "Would you want that?"

"I-- well, I was joking, but I-- for moral support?"

Considering the point, James debated with himself for a moment. Would his presence help Steve more than it distracted Tony? He wasn't sure. The problem was, he could very rarely deny Steve anything. It might be Bucky that loved the lunk, heart and soul, but he wasn't far behind. With a nod, he agreed. "Don't expect me to talk. You have to do that part."

Grumbling something under his breath Steve crossed the kitchen to pull out three plates and set them on the counter next to Bucky. He raised his voice a beat later and added, "I know; that's the part I'm not looking forward to."

They ate in companionable silence. Steve looked lost in thought, and Bucky, well, James could tell Bucky was planning something, but not what. It very likely had something to do with Steve and Tony and making them talk, but Bucky had been known to surprise even him. He made a mental note to pin down Bucky and pry it out of him. If only so that Bucky had some backup.

He kept a close eye on Steve, knowing that their lover might get cold feet about this, and stood the moment Steve's plate was empty. "On your feet," he demanded. "We're going down to the workshop."

"What? Now?" Steve stared at him, looking like a deer caught in someone's headlights.

"Yes now. If I let you linger and worry, you'll talk yourself out of it." James stepped over to Steve and hauled his chair back away from the breakfast bar. 

Steve wavered, caught flat-footed, and nearly fall off the barstool. Righting himself, he glared at James. "Fine, now. But if you keep trying to use force--"

"Steve, relax." Bucky rolled his eyes at them. "You too, Jamie. The pair of you go in there looking like you've just had a fight and that's all Tony will focus on."

That was a valid point. James took a physical step back and did what he could to clear his mind. It wasn't nearly as easy as it had been when they'd still been under HYDRA's thumb, all orders and obedience and no independent thought. Now he felt. And worried.

A deep breath helped, and he felt some of the tension leave his shoulders and face.

Steve pulled him in close and held him there protectively. "You okay? You looked real stressed for a moment, there."

Suddenly calmer, the smell of Steve's skin in his nose, James wondered at his own reactions to the situation and the touch. He was off balance and hadn't even realised it. He paused a few seconds before he answered, letting himself relax and considering the point. "I'm not sure why, but I was."

"And now?"

Being wrapped up in Steve's arms was helping a lot more to center and ground him than anything he'd been able to do himself. "Better."

"Good," Bucky put in. "Make up some coffee and take it with you."

Steve let him go and did as Bucky suggested. James felt a bit bereft the moment Steve pulled back, much like he had when he'd let go of Bucky, but stomped on the feeling harshly. He was being needy and clingy again, and hated that he was being so dependent on touch for no reason he could discern, now that he had his own physical presence rather than just occupying Bucky's part-time. It was a weakness, and if it caught up to him in the field, it could be disastrous for more than just him.

The coffee machine started gurgling happily and the pleasant smell of brewing coffee filled the kitchen, and then Bucky was in front of him. "You're still off-balance, aren't you?" he asked, tone knowing. "Still too quiet?"

James shrugged. It was, but he didn't want to think about it in concrete terms, at the moment.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bucky told him.

Steve, in what James was starting to think was typical fashion for him, picked that awkward moment to be perceptive. "When we got you both back, when you were still in one body, you were touch-starved, Buck," he said quietly, heated glowing coals of fury buried under his calm tone, "and now that James is his own person, he's being jumpier than what's normal for him..."

Bucky caught his eyes and James knew he was looking for some sign of whether what Steve was implying was true. James himself wasn't sure if it was, but he knew he'd been hoarding touches like necessary materiel recently. "I--" he took a breath that tried to catch in his throat. "I can't confirm, but it's possible," he admitted, feeling shaky.

It was a relief to know what he was feeling had a name. Well, probably. He would need to do some research before he accepted that Steve was right.

Steve nodded decisively. "I can talk to Tony later. What do you need?"

"I need you to talk to Tony," he replied, sticking to his guns. He knew better than to let Steve back out of talking to Tony to comfort him. "But I might stay in the shop with him for an hour or so, afterward."


	3. [Steve POV]

He frowned at James, not liking that James was shoving his own needs aside in favor of a conversation that might well result in conflict or disruption in their ranks. "Make him sit with you, then," he told James firmly. "You need me to talk to him, apparently, and fine, I can do that. But I need you to take care of yourself."

Bucky gave them both a long look, catching their eyes. "Steve, I was always better at taking care of you than myself," he said, turning away from them to start washing the pan and plates in the sink. "Pretty sure that carried over to Jamie."

James grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath. "You can analyse me incorrectly later," he said, and made for the elevator down to Tony's workshop. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, James?" The AI sounded fondly tolerant.

"Tony around?"

It had been about an hour. Steve knew there was a reasonable chance James might win this bet. Any meeting that didn't involve the Board or SHIELD could -- and frequently did -- get cut short if Tony got bored or the topic was better suited to someone else.

"Sir is indeed in his workshop and not yet deeply immersed in any of his projects. If you wish to speak to him, I suggest doing so now."

James nodded, then turned to Steve. "I'm going downstairs. Steve, if you want support now is your chance."

Forced into action, Steve made a face at James' back. "Guess I'll be back later, Buck."

"I can keep myself entertained," came the predictable response. "Go. And try not to blow anything up."

If anything was going to explode, it was more likely going to be Tony's fault than his, Steve was tempted to say, but he knew better than to make that kind of remark when he was about to be alone in an elevator with James; Tony would smell the irritation on his lover. Bucky was entirely right about that, and Steve didn't want to torpedo any chance of this working before he even spoke to Tony.

The pair of them stood in the small car in silence for a few seconds, then James said, "He won't believe you. Just tell him what he needs to know and then let him process."

"That doesn't make it easier." Steve ran one hand through his hair, then forced himself not to fidget by hooking his thumb into his waistband.

"Nothing about Tony is _easy_ ," James scoffed. "But he's worth it."

As James finished speaking, the elevator car slowed to a stop and the doors opened with a quiet chime. "You have a point," Steve said, squaring his shoulders, and led the way into the workshop.

The large space was quiet save for the whines and hisses of hydraulics and the baseline white noise generated by Tony's machine shop, run by JARVIS. The moment the workshop door opened, he turned to them and gave them a questioning look. "What brings you two into my lair?"

Steve knew he had to strike fast and true. "It was brought to my attention that I never told you outright that I care about you and want you in my bed as much as I do James or Bucky. I thought I should fix that." Tony gaped at him, clearly at a loss for words, so Steve added. "I don't expect anything to change, now that you know, or expect you to return the feelings. But they're there and you deserve to know."

He waited a few seconds, just to see what Tony would do, but nothing happened.

James stepped up to his lover and wrapped him up in a hug. "Tony?"

Suddenly unsure again, Steve blurted, "Shit, I think I broke him."

Tony made a strangled sound then cleared his throat. "I-- I have no idea what to say to that? Am I in some parallel universe?"

James laughed at him. "No, you're not. And he meant it. Come cuddle on the sofa and work through it."

Steve knew a dismissal when he heard one, and James knew Tony's reactions to emotional shocks better than he did, really. "Remind him to come to bed, James?"

James sniffed. "We'll see. Go find Bucky and drag him down to the gym or something."

Giving in, Steve left again. James would calm Tony back down and get what he needed all in one stroke. It would be fine. It had to. He winced, if it wasn't he knew it would upset all four of them. He sure hoped James and Bucky knew what they were doing, upsetting their equilibrium like this.

JARVIS cleared his throat, and Steve startled a bit.

"Captain," the AI said, his tone measured, "I have very deliberately refrained from voicing any opinions on the relationship you and your lovers have been building with Sir."

Steve couldn't help but be wary of whatever was coming next. JARVIS' displeasure was not to be provoked lightly. "But?"

"But what Bucky and James orchestrated today was sorely needed." JARVIS sounded slightly exasperated. "Sir has never once broken his habit of devaluing himself in all the time I have known him."

That... yeah, Steve had definitely seen that happen, over and over. "He doesn't know his own worth," he agreed. "I've never given a damn about the money or any of the rest of the trappings."

"And that, Captain, is why I have allowed things to progress."

With a quiet click, the speaker shut off, and Steve was left to stand there, reeling a little himself. In the twenty or so months that Bucky and James had been back and involved with him, JARVIS had always kept their interactions professional. That much was true. He'd never tried to influence the three of them -- or the four of them once they'd started including Tony.

But this? This was huge. Getting JARVIS' blessing to continue was tantamount to-- well, he didn't know what. Something crucial that he couldn't pin down at the moment, his thoughts whirling and jumbled as they were.

Taking a deep breath and letting the tension leave his neck and shoulders, he smiled.

Bucky was waiting for him in the little foyer the elevator opened on, an expectant look on his face. "Well?" he demanded, falling easily into step with Steve and following him through their floor.

Once he was in their living room, Steve let himself fall back onto their sofa and stretch out with a relieved sigh. "Well what?"

"How'd he take it?" Bucky rolled his eyes. "Punk."

"Jerk." Steve held out a hand, and Bucky happily accepted it, letting himself be tugged down to lie next to Steve. "It went more or less as we expected. He was speechless."

Bucky's arms went around his waist, and Steve reveled in the contact. "Jamie still with him?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. He'll get Tony straightened out," Bucky said, relaxing against him and leaning in for a chaste kiss. "Now what's the news from SHIELD? They getting anywhere interrogating the Scientist Supreme or whatever he was calling himself? Personally, I think Asshole in Chief fits better."

Steve snickered and let himself be distracted. "I haven't heard a word, but that could mean anything."


	4. [Tony POV]

He watched Steve leave, uncertainty in the set of his shoulders, and turned in James' arms until he could look his lover in the eye. "Did I dream that?"

"No." James hugged him closer and started them moving toward the sofa. "Steve is generous with his affection, and you won him over. Not with your upgrades. Not with the sex. By being you. I love you, and now he does too. I haven't asked Bucky, but I'm pretty sure he agrees with Steve."

"But Bucky only wants--"

James cut him off with a gentle finger to his lips. "No, Tony. Bucky has nothing to do with what Steve feels. I know this, because he has nothing to do with what _I_ feel. Steve is his own person with his own mind, and his own wants. And he wants you as much as he wants me or Bucky. He said it himself, and he meant it."

James maneuvered them so that they were sprawled out full length on the sofa he kept by his kitchenette, leaving Tony draped across his chest and torso, their legs tangled together.

Tony shook his head in an attempt to clear it and failed. "He hated me when we met," he blurted out, "and only tolerated me because he had to. The only reason he let me join in your weird little love triangle was because you wanted me there."

"Not true." James smirked at him. "He was attracted to you, and made sure Bucky knew it. Without that, I might not have been able to convince them to go for it."

Tony stared down at him, stunned speechless for the second time in five minutes.

After a few silent seconds, James added, groping Tony's ass firmly, "We all know you and want you, and that's not going to change anytime soon. You might as well get used to the idea."


End file.
